NOTE:...I am publishing this post even though I have not posted the photos from my first day in Phnom Penh (as I am having trouble loading them)..... The boat ride up the Mekong Delta landed me in Phnom Penh where I headed down to the lakeside (Boeng Kak Lake) area where most of the backpaper guest houses are locate. I was joined by my South African friend who, unable to locate her friends in town, joined me for some dinner and a movie on the top of the guest house before we both called it a night. The next day I [View Full Entry]

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Caught an early morning bus south to the Mekong Delta. I was joined by a group of eight others as we boarded a small boat to cruise around the Delta. Our first stop was a floating candy factory where they made sweet puffed rice cakes as well as candies. We continued our journey around the Delta stopping at a small village. Then we boarded two-man boats (I was paired with a girl from South Africa) to visit a floating fishing village (the people's floating homes have fishfarms underneath). Then it was back to a larger boat (about 30 or so people) [View Full Entry]

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As has become the norm, the bus ride was longer than advertised...mainly due to a flat tire that caused a 2 hour delay.... I wandered around the downtown area a bit before following a tout to a hotel on "minihotel" street. I bargained him down from $12 to $9 for a small room with one bed. No hot water but it had a TV with some cable channels. It was already 9:30pm so I ventured out for a bit to eat and bumped into some Israelis I had met in Mui Ne along with some Canadians and got some food and [View Full Entry]

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The bus ride to Mui Ne was bearable...especially as we neared the coast the weather broke and the sun was shining. I took a hut near the beach for $5 a night with a fan (outside showers with no hot water...) and a mossy net. I love the feeling of living in a hut. The place is a bit out of town but it is only a motoscooter ride away for $.50. I headed to town to grab some food and I bump into Gertz and his girlfriend...small world this traveling circuit. Spent the night of my birthday with two girls [View Full Entry]

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Caught the overnight train from Hoi An and find that the two Danish guys (Milo and Joey) are along for the ride. Once again, I am unable to sleep on the bus...oh well... We arrive into Nha Trang and the rain is coming down hard. It ends up that the rain would continue for the 3 days I am in the city. I signed up to go scuba diving with Rainbow Divers (as I bump into Graham, a dive master I met on Cat Ba Island). Spent rest of the day wandering around a bit in the rain..even went to the [View Full Entry]

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I purchased an OPEN BUS ticket that allows me to jump on a bus and get off at a few cities. So I headed to Hoi An. I met a Geman guy on the bus (Gertz) and and Irish girl (Anna) which helped pass the time....as our bus got a flat tire. Got a hotel easily as the manager from Huey hotel recommended a place...so Gertz and Anna joined me in taking a nice room for $5 per night (I forgot the name...opps). A few drinks with Gertz at a place called Re-Treat and Full Moon and then hit the hay. [View Full Entry]

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Well, I am back traveling on my own as Tamar headed back to Israel. I took the overnight bus to Hue which left Hanoi at 6pm and arrived in Hue at 6am. Ugh.... After selecting from the many tauts who attacked the bus upon arrival, I (and an Australian girl named Eartha who I befriended on the bus) ended up at a nice $5 guesthouse (we each had our own rooms). Luckily I showered immediately because not 10 minutes afterwards the transformer near the guesthouse exploded cutting the electricity for hours. I have been writing a bunch in my posts so [View Full Entry]

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The trip back to Hanoi from Cat Ba was very enjoyable (a cruise through Halong Bay and a minibus ride from Halong City to Hanoi) and we arrived in the city around 5pm. We walked the streets for about an hour in search of a suitable guesthouse and landed at the Mingh Vihn for $11 per night. We enjoyed a nice meal and a few beers before hitting the sack for the evening. I'm glad to be back in Hanoi as it is a beautiful city which we did not explore last time we were here. I woke up early and [View Full Entry]

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We decided to pass on the much used tour package to Cat Ba Island and chose instead to do it ourselves. In the morning, we jumped on cyclos (bike cabs) for the ride to train station. It was a bit unearvy being in traffic on highways with trucks and cars while sitting on a chair being pushed by a bicycle. We caught the local train for 2.5 hours to HaiPhong during which I spent an hour practicing my Vietnamese with a young man who also wanted to practice his English. Upon arriving in HaiPhong, we were attacked by motorscooter taxi drivers [View Full Entry]

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After the hellish trip to reach Hanoi, we need a day to catch our breath. Which turned out well as we only spent one day in Hanoi before heading south to HaLong Bay. We did manage to tour the city a quick bit and get a little flavor for Hanoi. It is a very clean city and organized...nothing like we expected. I guess coming from India we expect lots of chaos everywhere. Instead we had a relaxing time watching the many scooters move about and busy Hanoi street life go about its business. We stayed at a lovely hotel (Bamboo House) [View Full Entry]

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